July 20, 2012 6:29pm EDTJuly 20, 2012 1:32pm EDTMLS broadcasts are averaging 345,000 viewers to date on ESPN/ESPN2, putting the league’s telecasts on the cable nets on pace for the best average since MLS was formed in ’96.

Austin Karp, SportsBusiness Daily

Published on Jul. 20, 2012

Jul. 20, 2012

MLS broadcasts are averaging 345,000 viewers to date on ESPN/ESPN2, putting the league’s telecasts on the cable nets on pace for the best average since MLS was formed in ’96.

The audience is up 12 percent from the same period last year and up 18 percent from ’10.

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The Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders match on June 24 on ESPN marked the league’s third-best regular-season cable audience ever, behind only the inaugural MLS match in ’96 (D.C. United-San Jose Clash) and a New England Revolution-D.C. United match from ’98.

Meanwhile, NBC Sports Net is averaging 121,000 viewers to date for its first season of MLS telecasts (17 games), up 78 percent compared to same period last year, when the same package was on Fox Soccer.

NBC Sports Net is in 78.1 million homes compared to 41.4 million for Fox Soccer. NBCSN averaged 259,000 viewers for the L.A. Galaxy-Portland match last Saturday, marking the net’s best MLS audience to date.